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Telugu

 
1
Cheppave Prema [Film: Manasantha Nuvve] <TC>
Composer: R P Patnaik
Lifted from Cher's 'Dove L'amore'!
Listen to Cheppave prema | Dove l'amore
Good work!!
2
Romance rhythms [Film: Tholi Prema] <TC>
Composer: Deva
Lifted from Deep Forest's 'Noonday Sun'!
Listen to Romance rhythms | Noonday Sun
Blatant!
3
Ee Manase [Film: Tholi Prema - Telugu] <TC>
Composer: Deva
Partly inspired from the Dr Alban number 'Alabalaba'
Listen to Ee manase | Alabalaba
One of the most authentic use of an original song. Deva has beautifully worked on this number, the 2nd para sounds brilliant and is original too. But could've avoided the use of the word 'alabalaba' in Telugu. A sure give-away!
4
Pellikala Vachesinde [Film: Preminchkundam Ra] <TC>
Composer: Manisharma
Lifted lock stock and barrel from Mory Kante's 'Yeke Yeke' from the album Akwaba Beach.
Listen to Pellikala vechesinde (Telugu) | Yeke Yeke (Mory Kante)
This Venkatesh-Anjala Jhaveri starrer 'Preminchkundaam ra' had composer Mahesh tuning all but this song! This song (Pellikala vachesinde bala) was composed by guest composer Mani Sharma. This song was instrumental in establishing Mani Sharma as one of the most sought after composers in the Telugu film industry! 
5
Manasemo [Film: Yuvaraju (2000)] <TC>
Composer: Ramana Gogula
Inspired by Shawn Colvin's 1996 number 'Sunny came home' from the album 'A few small repairs'!
Listen to Manasemo | Sunny came home
The inspiration is subtle and makes for interesting listening!
6
Okkasari cheppaleva [Film: Nuvvu Naaku Nachavu (2001)] <TC>
Composer: Koti
Lifted off Robert Miles' 'Fable' (1996)!
Listen to Okkasari cheppaleva | Fable
Its rather interesting to note that the main tune of the Telugu song appears merely for a few seconds in the original but the similarity is striking...making it a direct lift!
7
I am Sorry [Film: Nuvve Nuvve (2002)] <TC>
Composer: Koti
Lifted from Shakira's 'Whenever Wherever'.
Listen to I am Sorry | Whenever Whatever
Direct Lift!
8
Lokam [Film: Bobby (2002)] <TC>
Composer: Manisharma
Lifted from Jennifer Lopez's 'Love don't cost a thing'!
Listen to Lokam | Love dont cost a thing
Blatant lift!
9
Hare Rama [Film: Okkadu (2003)] <TC>
Composer: Manisharma
Lifted from Prem Joshua's song 'Bolo Hari', from the 2001 album Dance of Shakti!
Listen to Hare Rama | Bolo Hari
The opening is an identical lift!
10
Agadalu Pagadalu [Film: Radhagopalam (2005)]
Composer: Manisharma
Inspired by Ilayaraja's 1983 composition, 'Mottu vitta' from 'Indru nee naalai naan'!
Listen to Agadalu Pagadalu | Mottu Vitta
I usually do not prefer listing lifts from one Indian language to other, but in this unfortunate case, one of the greatest Telugu director seems to have been taken for a ride by composer Mani Sharma. Why couldnt Bapu get Ilayaraja himself to compose the music, considering Ilayaraja's popularity across all the 4 southern states?
11
Minsare minsare [Film: Aahwaanam (1997)] <TC>
Composer: SV Krishna Reddy
Blatant lift off Johnny Wakelin's In Zaire.
Listen to Minsare minsare | In Zaire
Johnny Wakelin's Muhammad Ali-inspired track, 'In Zaire' is already popular in India thanks to Jatin Lalit reworking it as 'Kaise don' in Kabhi haan Kabhi naa (1993). But Telugu Director/ Composer SV Krishna Reddy perhaps liked the original so much that he decided to 'use' it too, for the 1997 film, 'Aahwaanam', in the track, 'Minsare minsare'. This one's a straight, stupid lift.
12
Ee reyi teeyanidi [Film: Chitti Chellelu (1970)] <TC>
Composer: Saluri Rajeswara Rao
Mighty direct rip-off of a French track titled, 'L'Amour Est Bleu', composed by André Popp with lyrics by Pierre Cour, in 1967.
Listen to Chitti Chellelu's Ee Reyi Teeyanidi | L'Amour Est Bleu (Vicky Leandros)
The original was first performed by Vicky Leandros (appearing as Vicky) as Luxembourg's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1967. Now, how on earth would have Saluri Rajeshwara Rao heard this French track? No, in all probabilities, he must have heard the track's cover version by Paul Mauriat, 'Love is blue' that was so popular in the US, that it was number-one hit in the US, for five weeks 1968! Incidentally, Telugu star Pawan Kalyan's 2003 cult debacle, Johnny, with music by Ramana Gogula - the techie turned composer who's still known for his 'Satyabhama dheere chalna' (which he composed along with Kush Khanna, as a reggae band named Misty Rhythms) had a remix of 'Ee reyi teeyanidi'!
Listen to Johnny's Ee reyi teeyanidi
13
Atharaku (Athadu Title Song) [Film: Athadu (2005)] <TC>
Composer: Manisharma
Ripped off from the main tune of Tracy Chapman's 'Montains o'Things', from her eponymous 1988 debut album.
Listen to Adharaku (Athadu title song) | Mountains o'Things
Who would have ever thought Tracy Chapman's music is relevant for Indian films? Telugu composer Manisharma sure think so and crafts an fabulous title track for the Mahesh Babu super hit, Athadu. The song, 'Adharaku', uses the main tune of Tracy Chapman's 'Montains o'Things', from her eponymous 1988 debut album. Its a nifty piece of plagiarism, uncredited, of course, but very interestingly done.
14
Oka matundi [Film: I Love You (1979)] <TC>
Composer: Sathyam
Inspired by the song, 'There's a kind of hush'.
Oka matundi:
There's a Kind of Hush:
The song is 'Oka matundi' from the 1979 Chiranjeevi starrer, I Love You. It's one of those early Chiranjeevi films where he had fantastic character roles and was identified for his acting skills. This film has him playing a womaniser and later, an impotent man - something that he can't even dream of doing in these days of his superstardom. The film had music by Chellapilla Satyam (usually known as Sathyam) who is best remembered as RD Burman of Andhra Pradesh (not sure why or how, though). One of the songs was 'Oka matundi'. The song's tune is a direct and interestingly adapted inspiration from the track, 'There's a Kind of Hush', originally written by Les Reed and Geoff Stephens for 'The New Vaudeville Band' on the album, Winchester Cathedral, in 1966. The song was later covered by The Carpenters and Engelbert Humperdinck and it went on to become a smash hit then.
15
Roju roju ninne [Film: Andari Banduvaya (2010)] <TC>
Composer: Anoop Rubens
Inspired by JayZ's Big Pimpin'.
Roju roju ninne:
Big Pimpin':
Khusara - Original:
Khusara - Remix:


Bonus: Video of the original Khusara!
One of the commenters to my review of Andari Banduvaya, Wootshire, pointed out that another song from the same soundtrack, 'Roju roju ninne' was lifted off Jaz-Z's 1999 track, Big Pimpin'. I heard the source and of course, it is a lift - the prominent musical piece in the source has been converted by Anoop into the main tune, in its Telugu avatar. Guilty as charged.

But, here's where the story takes a curious turn! Jay-Z's song was from his album, 'Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter' (1999) and was produced by Timbaland. The song was in a legal mess with charges that Timbaland has sampled without permission an Egyptian track called, 'Khusara'. And yes, it sure does - the most memorable part of the original - an alluring piece of music with strong middle eastern sound and flute - has been pimped directly in Big Pimpin'! This is the same piece that Anoop converted into the main Telugu song too, with lyrics! The original song, 'Khusara' was first part of the 1957 Egyptian film, 'Fata Ahlamy', which had music by composer Baliegh Hamdy and was sung by Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez. The same tune was later remixed by Egyptian percussionist and composer, Hossam Ramzy in 1995, for the album, 'The Best of Abdul Halim Hafiz'. It is believed widely that Timbaland sourced the track, without permission, from Hossam's rearranged version, in another album, "The Best of Bellydance from Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey". Reason? Another Timbaland track titled, 'Raise Up', which he composed for Petey Pablo samples yet another song from the same album - the song titled, "Enta Omri (I)". Two songs sampled by the same producer? Sounds fishy and like many cases covered in ItwoFS! So, in essence, even if Anoop may have heard his inspiration from Jay-Z's Timbaland produced track, his inspiration is from a 1957 Egyptian track, indirectly!
16
Bujjikonda [Film: Bumper Offer (2009)] <TC>
Composer: Raghu Kunche
Inspired by Linda Linda, by Dutch pop-rock band, Tee Set, released in 1978.
Bujjikonda:
Linda Linda (Tee Set):
An interesting bonus from an earlier post on Milliblog is this comment, that refers to Linda Linda's direct and blatant lift in Telugu. Composer Raghu Kunche creates a complete song called 'Bujjikonda' (from the 2009 film, Bumper Offer) out of the original by cleverly using the mukhda of the original as the Telugu version's antara and vice versa! And, the whole song gets a pulsating background too! Interesting lift!
17
Bella chao & Chandamama [Film: Businessman (2012)] <TC>
Composer: Thaman S
Pilla chao:
Bella Ciao (techno remix):
Bella Ciao (original):
Koilen:

Chandamama:
He Lives In You:
I did not like Businessman's music as much as I did Dookudu's (as is evident from my review), but what made sit up is a comment on Milliblog's Facebook page about Pilla chao's origins. The original is a legendary Italian revolutionary song named (surprise, surprise!!), Bella Ciao. It looks like Thaman has directly lifted the Telugu song from a techno version of Bella Ciao. Interestingly, the original composer of Bella Ciao remains unknown, though recently, Bella Ciao's roots are traced to a Jewish song titled 'Koilen' that was first recorded by Mishka Ziganoff in 1919. Though this seems like an adaptation of a folk song (with unknown credits), it would have been good if Thaman had not passed it off as his own composition. And yes, the name could have sounded less like the original - Pilla chao vs. Bella Ciao?

Strange that Thaman chose to lift twice in the same soundtrack! The song 'Chandamama' seems to have been crafted meticulously after South African composer Lebo M's most famous song, 'He lives in you' that was used in the soundtrack of the sequel to Lion King. The song was also part of the CD, Rhythm Of The Pride Lands, produced by Lebo M and Jay Rifkin. Thaman's Telugu version piles on the background music to glitzy levels, but the base tune seems largely intact, particularly the catchy 'Oh oh eeyo' humming.
 


Hindi

Anu Malik
Anand Milind
Anand Raaj Anand
Bappi Lahiri
Jatin Lalit
Kalyanji Anandji
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Nadeem Shravan
OP Nayyar
Pritam Chakravarty
Rajesh Roshan
RD Burman
Salil Chaudhry
SD Burman
Sandeep Chowta
Sanjeev Darshan
Shankar Jaikishen
Hindi - others

Tamil
A R Rahman
Deva
Ilayaraja
Karthikraja
Yuvan S. Raja
Tamil - others

Assorted
Coincidences
Indipop
Advt. jingle lifts
Telugu
Trivia
 

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